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WVU Treks West for Hall of Fame Challenge
November 21, 2015 11:23 AM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team opens its four-game road swing with a visit to Gonzaga, in Spokane, Washington, on Sunday, Nov. 22, for the 2015 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Mountaineers (2-0) will play three games in three days, starting with the host Bulldogs, followed by USC on Monday, Nov. 23 and Grand Canyon on Tuesday, Nov. 24. Tipoff with the Trojans and Lopes is set for 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
WVU closes tournament play against Yale on Sunday, Nov. 29, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. WVU has never faced any of the four opponents.
A free live stream of all three games in Washington will be available at GoZags.com. Jeff Culhane and Liz Repella will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to the contest on various affiliates across the state, online at WVUsports.com or by using the TuneIn Radio app.
West Virginia is coming off a 96-64 win over Coppin State on Monday. The Mountaineers scored a Coliseum-record 63 points in the first half against the Lady Eagles, surpassing a previous record of 62 set against Duquesne in 1991. Senior Bria Holmes registered a game-high 23 points and climbed to No. 14 on the program’s all-time scoring chart with 1,444 points. Holmes leads WVU with an average of 16.0 points during the first two games.
Teana Muldrow tallied 17 points and pulled in eight rebounds against CSU on Monday. Muldrow is second on the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 8.0 rebounds per game.
Coach Mike Carey is one win shy of reaching his 300th career victory at West Virginia University. Carey is also three wins away from passing Kittie Blakemore as the women’s basketball program’s all-time wins leader.
“It’s all about effort,” said Carey. “In the first half (against Coppin State), we played with great effort. We played defense, got up the lanes and were blocking out. The second half, we didn’t do any of the above and that’s what happened. Hopefully, they learned from that. The good thing is, we are playing a step up in talent and playing some good teams.”
Gonzaga (2-1) is coming off a 78-56 win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. The Bulldogs also have a season-opening 88-35 victory over Air Force. The only blemish was a 68-48 loss to No. 14 Stanford. Lisa Fortier’s squad is led by Elle Tinkle, who is averaging 12.7 points per game. Center Shelby Cheslek is averaging 9.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in three games, while Kiara Kudron is boasting 9.3 points and a team-leading 9.7 rebounds.
Southern Cal (2-0) opened the season with victories over Hope International (92-43) and Santa Clara (81-46). The Trojans have five players averaging double figures with junior guard Jordan Adams leading the way with 19.5 points per contest. The Trojans finished 15-15 overall last season under former Olympian and coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke.
Grand Canyon (2-1) has reeled off two consecutive wins after dropping its season-opener, 74-41, to Hawai’i. The Lopes picked up victories over Oral Roberts (66-64) and Western State (77-40). GCU is led by Dana Jones’ 12.7 points per game and Cheyenne Hedrington’s 10.7 rebounds per contest.
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